Valuing Volunteers
By Adam Barnett, VFBV Chief Executive Officer
This month, the Victorian Government has the opportunity to demonstrate the value it places on its emergency service volunteers, with this year’s National Volunteer Week being celebrated across the country between 19-25 May 2025.
In last month’s edition I reported on the inequities of the proposed changes to the Fire Services Property Levy. Since then, the government’s proposed Emergency Service and Volunteer Fund amendment Bill has stalled in the upper house, with debate expected to resume on 13 May.
With a number of the crossbench parties yet to declare their voting intentions, the government’s amendments are still very much within reach, with them requiring the support of six of the eleven cross-benchers to pass its legislation.
To recap: the current Fire Services Property Levy was introduced following a recommendation from the 2009 Bushfires Royal Commission, who concluded the old insurance levy was not equitable and lacked transparency. The government of the day then went through exhaustive public and stakeholder consultation with a green paper released in 2010, and an options paper in 2011 to provide best practice consultation and an opportunity for Victorians to contribute to the fire levy’s design and identify any issues or unintended consequences. The start date was timed for two years later in order to ensure all the necessary supports and processes were in place.
Contrast this with how the current government has arrived at its proposal being rammed through Parliament as we speak.
Rather than being a recommendation from a Royal Commission, this proposal was cooked up in secret and announced via media release by the outgoing Treasurer Tim Pallas a couple of weeks before Christmas. No consultation, no research, no public discussion or enquiry and no stakeholder engagement. Zip, zero, zilch. The cherry on the cake is a planned rushed start date of July 1 this year. The fact the government has been unable to find a single stakeholder to speak in support of its new tax speaks volumes, with Councils opposed, municipal and rate payer associations opposed, the farmers federation opposed, multiple community action groups, firefighters and their representative bodies all opposed and raising concerns. VFBV has been raising these concerns and educating the community on the poor state of CFA’s budget since the December announcement just days before Christmas. With coverage in last month’s edition, as well as March 2025, February 2025 and January 2025 editions, and my OpEd published for the Weekly Times in December 2024.
Just sit with that paragraph for a minute or two. Does this sound like good governance or process to you?
If this new levy was such a boon for emergency service volunteers as they say it is – why did the government not work with each of the volunteer associations early on and build their support? One wonders if the government had retained its ministerial volunteer consultative forum a commitment made under its Emergency Management Statement, if some of the obvious problems with its legislation may have been known well before it was announced.
The Budget Update Paper issued by the previous Treasurer settled all doubts that what was being spun as supporting and sustaining emergency services was an outright deception.
Those papers show an extra $610.9M will be collected in the first year of its operation, rising to an extra $765M thereafter. Of this extra, the budget has only allocated $50M in new funding for CFA and SES. In other words, for every $1 of new extra tax collected, only 7 cents will flow to emergency service volunteer agencies.
So where does the other 93% of the new money collected go? According to the government’s own media releases, the extra money will go to funding up to 95% of 7 government departments, public servants and other entities including - EMV, Emergency Recovery Victoria, Triple Zero and Forest Fire Management Victoria and the support functions within the Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action.
Given each of these are already funded through consolidated revenue, and with no commitment that government is not reducing its current contributions to agencies and departments - the government will be able to pocket this money as “savings” from its consolidated revenue, to redirect to its other budget black holes. There is certainly no other new output spending for emergency services identified in the budget papers which makes a mockery of the government’s statements about supporting emergency services.
Which takes us to the sustainability promise. We are told that this new levy will make emergency service funding sustainable. Well, that is exactly what was promised from the current Fire Services Property Levy that has been in place since 2013 and is only intended to fund CFA and FRV. Last year the government collected an extra $186M in fire levies by hiking the primary producer rate up 70%, and still reduced its grant to CFA! This government has had 10 years to demonstrate sustainable funding for CFA. CFA’s annual reports clearly show its budget allocation from government grants has actually dropped consecutively for the last five years in a row. If CFA is treated this poorly when it competes with just one other paid agency, what will happen when there are 10 entities supposedly funded from this new tax instead of just two as is the case now?
The real travesty is revealed when we look at where the extra revenue will come from.
The new tax sees the residential variable rate increase 99% and commercial rates increase by 100%. The industrial rate goes up 64% and the rate for primary producers goes up a whopping 189% which is almost a threefold increase.
To put those increases into perspective, the Governments media release of 23rd December last year heralded its “Fair Go Rates System” which capped Council rate increases to 3% as “continuing the Allan Labor Government’s drive to reduce pressures on household budgets.” Minister for Local Government Nick Staikos MP said “This rate cap will mean local councils are able to raise necessary revenue for the services they provide, without adding cost of living pressure on households.”
If 3% is a ‘fair go’, what do they call a 189% increase?
Which then gets us to the name of the new levy, which they have cynically rebadged as the “Emergency Services and Volunteers Fund” implying that volunteers are somehow separate to emergency services or a convenient scape goat for a very unpopular tax grab.
VFBV has been flooded by calls from volunteers outraged over the prospect of this new tax being called a Volunteer Fund and misusing their hard-earned good name to sell a rotten tax hike especially when less than a quarter of total revenue from the levy is actually going to fund volunteer involving agencies such as CFA and SES with the rest being shuttled off to Melbourne bureaucracies.
I am pleased to report that upper house member Jeff Bourman MP of the Shooters, Fishers and Farmers Party has staunchly stood up for volunteers by demanding an amendment calling for Parliament to reject the ‘Volunteer Fund’ part of the new levy name and instead simply refer to it as the “Emergency Services Levy”.
This addresses key volunteer feedback that the proposed name of the levy was misleading and would damage the morale of volunteers, impact their fundraising, and expose them to abuse and blame for an increased tax that does very little to support them or their agencies. We commend Jeff on his loyalty and support of emergency service volunteers and his impressive voting record of support to CFA volunteers over the years.
Amendments have also been proposed and tabled by the Opposition to restrict the new levy to only funding CFA, FRV and SES which would significantly reduce the rate increases, and a second amendment to ensure annual transparency of where the funds are distributed and to what agencies.
At April’s meeting of State Council, volunteers representing each CFA District across the State unanimously voted in favour of the VFBV Boards position that we do not support the governments proposed legislation in its current form, and endorsing the three amendments so far proposed. State Council have also endorsed that we formally express our concerns for the disproportionate impact the proposed levies will have on primary producers and the unfair burden being placed on regional communities.
I simply cannot understate the real concerns I hold about the mental health impact the government’s proposals and plans is having on regional and rural communities. The pain and anguish are real, and the consequences devastatingly serious. We must stand up for them.
And while we appreciate the sentiment behind the volunteer rebate, State Council have formally passed a motion of censure against the governments lack of consultation on the design and development of the proposed levy changes prior to the government forming its position, which is a statutory obligation under the Volunteer Charter.
Members are reminded that crossbench MP’s will decide how they vote after hearing from their constituents. Given the numbers, the government will require the support of the Greens to pass their legislation, so members are urged to make contact with their local Greens MP to ensure your views are known prior to debate resuming.
And with National Volunteer week commencing on the 19th May, CFA volunteers will be looking towards the government’s 2025/26 State Budget which is due to be delivered on Tuesday 20 May to assess what value the government places on emergency service volunteers.
We will look with interest for what commitments are made to address CFA’s ageing truck fleet. With 35-year-old fire trucks that belong in a museum - not on our firegrounds, and 700+ tankers that still require volunteer firefighters to ride on the outside with no protection from the toxic smoke or fumes, CFA requires $55M per year in fleet funding to just stop the age of the fleet from getting any older. An injection of almost $400M will be required to replace all current overage trucks.
Time and time again, volunteers have heard the empty words of support from MP’s touring fire affected areas after devastating fires. They are looking for material commitments that will address the inequity of CFA’s budget that sees them having to fundraise to buy their own equipment and fight fires in Australia’s oldest fire trucks.
And with the $2.5 billion dollars of economic value that Victoria’s emergency service volunteers already contribute to Victoria each year, volunteers will be watching the governments next steps closely. If the government decides not to proceed with its levy changes and withdraws the volunteer commitments already made, proof of volunteers being used as hostages to bank in hundreds of millions of dollars of additional revenue for public servants and bureaucracies will be on show for all to see.
Rather than prioritise propping up the budgets of other government departments and entities, CFA volunteers are looking for CFA and the communities they protect to be made a priority. Not just in words or media releases, but actual deeds and actions. The upcoming budget will be a litmus test of whether these words of support for CFA volunteers is real or just double speak.
Survey – Final chance
The 2024-25 annual VFBV Volunteer Survey will close shortly.
Scan the QR code below or visit the VFBV website to take part in the survey today.
Paper copies of the survey are also available by calling the VFBV office on (03) 9886 1141.
CFA Regulations
The Victorian Government’s public consultation on the draft CFA Regulations 2025 will shortly close.
The Regulatory Impact Statement and a copy of the draft regulations can be found on Engage Victoria. Feedback to the proposed changes is due 13 May 2025.
We highly encourage members to review the changes and participate in the public process. If you submit to Engage Victoria, we ask you please provide a copy to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. so we can consider your feedback as we prepare our own submission.
Visit the VFBV website for more details.
Trustees
VFBV is calling for volunteer nominations from those interested in being a VFBV appointed trustee to the CFA and Brigades Donations Fund. The Fund was established in 2004 to ensure brigades continued to have deductible gift recipient status following the introduction of GST and changes made to the charities law that required the associations to advocate for the retention of individual brigade charity status.
Following nominations, five new or reappointed members will be appointed by the VFBV Board to serve as VFBV Trustees on the Fund for a term of two years. All current Trustees are eligible for re-appointment. The Trust Fund committee meets quarterly, either virtually or at CFA headquarters.
Nominations close Monday 16 June 2025 and further information including how to apply can be found on the VFBV website.
Annual Memorial Service
VFBV, CFA and Government officials joined family, friends and loved ones of our fallen CFA firefighters to honour those volunteers who have lost their lives in the line of duty, recognising also the 11 volunteers who were lost prior to the formation of CFA.
This year’s service was the 37th occasion the memorial has been held, with the first memorial in 1987, and the only cancellation being in 2020 due to the pandemic. The service was held on Sunday 4th May at the Emergency Services Memorial in Treasury Gardens Melbourne. The annual service is observed on the closest Sunday to International Firefighters’ Day and St Florian’s Day, with St. Florian the Patron Saint of Firefighters.
Both the Governor of Victoria, Her Excellency Professor the Honourable Margaret Gardner AC and the Minister for Emergency Services, the Hon Vicki Ward MP joined VFBV State President Samantha Collins, VFBV CEO Adam Barnett, CFA Chair Jo Plummer, CFA CEO Greg Leach AFSM and CFA Acting Chief Officer Garry Cook AFSM to lay wreaths and light candles at the Emergency Services Memorial in Treasury Gardens. VFBV and CFA Board members, State Councillors, sector leaders, family, friends and loved ones gathered on Sunday afternoon to pay their respects and honour the personal sacrifices and commitment given, with a bell tolled for each name of our fallen.
Attendees all proudly wore and displayed their blue and red ribbons to show their gratitude and respect to firefighters and their families everywhere. The blue and red ribbons are linked to colours symbolic of the main elements firefighters work with – red for fire and blue for water.
National Volunteer Week
19-25 May is National Volunteer Week and is Australia’s largest annual celebration of volunteering. It’s a week that provides an opportunity to highlight the important role of volunteers in communities, say thank-you and invite people not currently volunteering to give it a go.
The 2025 theme for National Volunteer Week is Connecting Communities.
VFBV passes on our deep gratitude, respect and appreciation to all CFA volunteers for the work you do in your communities 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
Victorians are safer because of the work you do, and VFBV could not be more proud of you, your brigades and all those that support you in the work you do to protect lives and property.
We also acknowledge all our brothers and sisters across all of Victoria’s emergency management volunteer workforce including volunteer first responders from VicSES, St John Ambulance, Ambulance Victoria, Life Saving Victoria, Coast Guard, Salvation Army, Red Cross and the Victorian Council of Churches Emergencies Ministry – just to name a few who work together to contribute their time, skills and resources to make change in their communities as emergency management volunteers.
VFBV Board Vacancies
Vacancies on the VFBV Board will arise when the terms of four VFBV Board members expire on 1 October 2025. All are eligible for reappointment.
VFBV invites applications from any CFA volunteer who is motivated by the prospect of making a difference and believes they have the skills to contribute to VFBV at the board level. The role of a board member involves contributing to VFBV direction, policy determination and monitoring the performance and governance of the Association.
This includes actively contributing to policy discussion, consulting with CFA volunteers and contributing to the identification and management of strategic issues.
VFBV is seeking applications from gender and culturally diverse candidates in addition to a diverse range of skills and experience including applications from diverse brigade types and classifications.
Members should familiarise themselves with the VFBV Board member role statement and key selection criteria available from the VFBV website or by telephone on 9886 1141.
Applications close on 1 September 2025.
Cert IV EOI
Expressions of interest are now open for members wishing to undertake a Certificate IV in Leadership and Management course. This course is an integral part of the Volunteer Leadership Development program.
The nationally accredited course equips graduates with transferable skills in essential leadership and management, enabling them to apply their knowledge across various roles, including those within CFA, the private sector, and community roles.
Whether you are an existing leader seeking further training or a formal qualification, or an aspiring leader looking to formalise your qualifications, this program offers a clear pathway to enhance your capabilities.
It is a 12 month program, predominately online and self-paced allowing flexibility. It requires a notional commitment of around 10 hours per week.
The EOI is open for those interested in participating in the August 2025 course or beyond. EOI’s are made to CFA via Members Online.
Women in Leadership Mentoring Program
Expressions of interest are now open for the 2025/26 Women in Leadership Mentoring Program.
The Women in Leadership Mentoring program is designed to enhance the capability and confidence of women volunteer leaders in CFA and is funded by the Volunteer Leadership Development (VLD) project. It is a 12 month program targeted a women volunteers who are currently in, new to, or aspire to leadership roles.
The program contains a mix of face-to-face workshops as well as elective online learning modules to develop and grow future leaders, share knowledge, skills and experience across CFA and model different ways to build and recognise the capability of others.
Expressions of interest are currently open for both mentees (women volunteers only) and mentors (all CFA members) to be involved in the 2025/26 program and will close on 31 May 2025.
Visit the Women in Leadership Mentoring Program page on members online for more information or to lodge an EOI.
Unity
Thank you for members’ strong show of support!
In 2024/25, brigades and groups showed it is more important than ever that volunteers have a strong, united and independent voice with 95% of Brigades supporting VFBV’s important work representing and advocating for all CFA volunteers.
Thank you to all affiliated brigades and groups last year in helping us stand up for volunteers.
In the coming weeks, brigade and group secretaries will receive the 2025/26 renewal notices for your VFBV Affiliation and Welfare Fund subscriptions with a due date of 30th June, 2025.
Those who pay before 31 July will be automatically entered into a draw to win one of four extremely worthwhile prizes valued at approximately $4,000. Prizes have been donated by GAAM and we sincerely thank them for their continued support.
Fire Wise – May 2025 online only edition
The May 2025 edition of Fire Wise has been published online only, this edition and past editions are available from the Fire Wise website.
You can support Fire Wise and the role it plays as an independent voice in keeping volunteers informed by becoming a subscriber. To become a subscriber visit the Fire Wise website or contact the Managing Editor of Fire Wise, Gordon Rippon-King either by phone 0402 051 412 or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Recent articles on the VFBV website
Now Open - 2024-25 VFBV Volunteer Survey
Nominations for CFA and Brigades Donations Fund Trustees
Certificate IV in Leadership and Management EOI
VFBV Board Vacancies 2025 – Invitation to apply
Presumptive Legislation Update
Enjoy the VFBV monthly newsletter?
If you enjoy reading the VFBV newsletter each month, why not share it with your fellow volunteers?
Either share this page with others who may enjoy the articles or encourage other volunteers to sign up to receive their own copy via email each month here.
Want to read the VFBV 2-minute briefings from the CFA/VFBV Joint Committees?
The latest edition along with previous editions can be downloaded from the VFBV website here.